"Coach Payton has been a very loyal professor, coach, counselor and leader at Lamar University for 40-plus years, and he represents the Cardinal Nation in a first-class manner each and every day," Tidwell said.

Payton will assist Tidwell as a consultant, counselor to athletes and coaches and as a public relations representative for the athletic department.

"I will be more than happy to help coach Tidwell in any areas in which he asks me to," said Payton, who is a member of the Cardinal Hall of Honor, the Prairie View A&amp;M Athletic Hall of Fame and the Southeast Texas Coaches Association Hall of Fame. "I will help in making contacts with the local community and with working with the student-athletes, coaches and so forth."